F-16 to be used on battlefield in Ukraine this year - US Ambassador
Photo: Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States Oksana Markarova (Getty Images)
F-16 fighters will be used on the battlefield in Ukraine this year. Ukrainian diplomats in the United States are currently working to increase the number of pilots and personnel trained, according to Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova.
"2024 is the year when this capability (F-16 aircraft - ed.) will be with us, and it will be used on the battlefield. We are currently working on rapidly increasing the number of training sessions, increasing the preparation of support personnel, and, of course, accelerating the delivery of aircraft," said Markarova.
The Ambassador assured that "the coming months will show a significant increase" in the supply of weapons to the front and air defense systems to protect Ukrainian cities. Specifically, diplomats are working on the delivery of artillery shells to Ukraine.
"Air defense assistance is also important. This includes additional installations, which have already begun arriving: there was an announcement about the Patriot system that came to us from Germany. We are working on an additional five systems that will come. Also, systems that were previously ordered - NASAMS and others - we will see them in service with our troops soon," she emphasized.
We have already reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated at the NATO summit in Washington in July that Lockheed Martin's F-16s would fly in Ukrainian skies this summer.
He emphasized that Denmark and the Netherlands have already begun to transfer F-16 fighters to Ukraine.
We also reported that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, outlined the limits of F-16 capabilities on the front line.
